Sultry Hollywood actress Gabrielle Union has returned to a special Cape Town vineyard in South Africa to honour her late father in an emotional and deeply personal ceremony.
The actress visited Klein Goederust over the weekend to bury the ashes of her father, Sylvester Union Jr., beneath the same vines the family planted together during her 50th birthday celebration in 2022.
Gabrielle shared videos and photographs of the ceremony on social media, showing the emotional moment she dug a hole beneath the vineyard vines before gently placing her father’s ashes into the soil.
She later covered the burial spot with earth and placed a stone engraved with his name next to the vines.
“A few years ago, I came to Klein Goederust with my family to celebrate my 50th, we were out in the vineyard, planting, learning, and connecting with this beautiful place and the people behind it,” she wrote.
The ceremony also included the pouring of wine onto the burial site as a symbolic gesture of honour, remembrance and respect for her late father.
“May you nourish the earth the way you nourished us. May the blessings be bountiful. May the abundance be wrapped in peace, kindness, and consideration. May the legacy continue,” Gabrielle said during the emotional moment.
Her father, Sylvester “Cully” Union Jr, died on April 3, 2026, at the age of 81 after battling dementia for several years.
The actress has previously opened up about the painful experience of watching her father’s condition deteriorate, describing dementia as “a slow and heartbreaking process” for the family.
Reports indicate that he had been placed in memory care in 2023 as his health worsened.
Despite the grief surrounding the visit, Gabrielle said returning to the Cape Town vineyard brought back memories of love, togetherness and the lasting impact her father had on their family.
The vineyard now serves as both a place of celebration and remembrance for the actress and her loved ones, carrying memories of joyful family moments as well as their final farewell to the family patriarch.